Potomac Formation, unit 3

Sand, fine- to coarse-grained, locally gravelly, crossbedded, light-colored, interbedded with white or variegated red and yellow, massive clay, and rarely dark-gray, woody clay. The Potomac Formation crops out only in the Delaware River valley where the river and its tributaries have eroded away the overlying formations. The Potomac has been mapped in a broad belt parallel to the inner edge of the Coastal Plain. Although mapped in a broad belt, the Potomac is very poorly exposed because of the widespread cover of surficial sediments. The best exposures occur where surficial material is mined away in the Camden area. Unit is about 45 m (148 ft) thick. Contact with the overlying Magothy Formation is difficult to pick where the basal Magothy also contains variegated clays. Most of the basal Magothy has more dark-colored clay, and the contact was drawn by using this criterion. The basal contact of the Potomac with the underlying crystalline rock is not exposed in New Jersey. Biostratigraphically, the Potomac has been separated into pollen zones I, II, and III (Doyle, 1969; Doyle and Robbins, 1977). Samples from the Potomac Formation in the Camden area and along the Delaware River nearby contain pollen assemblages of early Cenomanian age (Zone III) (Les Sirkin, written commun., 1988).
State New Jersey
Name Potomac Formation, unit 3
Geologic age Upper Cretaceous, lower Cenomanian
Lithologic constituents
Major
Unconsolidated > Fine-detrital > Clay (Bed)interbedded with white or variegated red and yellow, massive clay, and rarely dark-gray, woody clay
Unconsolidated > Coarse-detrital > Sand (Bed)Sand, fine- to coarse-grained, locally gravelly, crossbedded, light-colored.
Minor
Unconsolidated > Coarse-detrital > Gravel (Bed)locally gravelly
Comments Kp has a subscript 3 on printed map, but only Kp is used in digital map.
References

Dalton, R.F., Herman, G.C., Monteverde, D.H., Pristas, R.S., Sugarman, P.J., and Volkert, R.A., 1999, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Bedrock Geology and Topographic Base Maps of New Jersey: New Jersey Geological Survey CD Series CD 00-1; ARC/INFO (v. 7.1), scale 1:100,000.

Owens, James P., Sugarman, Peter J., Sohl, Norman F., Parker, Ronald A., Houghton, Hugh F., Volkert, Richard A., Drake, Avery A., Jr., and Orndorff, Randall C., 1998, Bedrock Geologic Map of Central and Southern New Jersey: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-2540-B, 8 cross sections, 4 sheets, each size 58x41, scale 1:100,000.

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i2540B

Doyle, J.A., and Robbins, E.I., 1977, Angiosperm pollen zonation of the continental Cretaceous of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and its application to deep wells in the Salisbury embayment: Palynology, v. 1, p. 43-78.

Doyle, J.A., 1969, Cretaceous angiosperm pollen of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and its evolutionary significance: Arnold Arboretum Journal, v. 50, p. 1-35.

NGMDB product
Counties Burlington - Camden - Gloucester - Mercer - Salem